Studmount cable fasteners are typically employed in machinery, duct work, motor vehicles or other applications in order to provide an attachment point to which electrical cable, wires, wire bundles, cables and the like may be secured. It is desirable to properly secure cables to a structural member so that the cable will not interfere with the operation of the device or other components. Proper securement is especially important when the cables or wires are located adjacent moving components or in adverse conditions. Wires or cables if not properly restrained may become caught or entangled resulting in the wires becoming frayed or cut. Such damage to the wires or cables may lead to component failure and possibly costly troubleshooting and repair.
Space constraints of a particular design may require the wiring to be located in a specific location in order to provide clearance for other components. The precise ideal location of cables or wiring harnesses may only be known upon the final assembly of the wiring to the structure due to various factors that are difficult to calculate in advance. Therefore, it is desirable to have a wiring mounting device which provides location flexibility for attaching the wire harness.
Prior art wire or cable fasteners include devices which are bolted or secured to a structural member. Such devices also include an opening through which a cable tie or strap may extend. The strap then may be wrapped around the wires or cable, thereby securing the wires to the structural member. Such fasteners, however, are typically fixedly secured to the structural member such that the wires to be secured must extend directly over or in close proximity to the mounting point. In many applications, the bolt holes, which are used to secure the wire fastener, are typically pre-formed in the structural member prior to the installation of the wires. If after installing the wires the optimum location in which the wires to be supported is not adjacent this hole, either another hole must be made or a special fixture must be formed to accommodate any location discrepancy.
Adjustable cable fasteners are known in the prior art, however, their adjustability and therefore their ability to accommodate any discrepancy is extremely limited. One example of such a cable fastener is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,208 to Cordes, et al. Cordes, et al. discloses a spacer mounting for electrical cable bundles and the like. The spacers include a pair of interlocking mounting members with each member having a saddle portion for engaging and holding the cable. In one embodiment, the mounting members are interlockable with one mounting member having a plug and the other mounting member including a socket which receives the plug. The mounting members are rotatable with respect to each other so that the saddles may be aligned to engage the cable. Both saddles contain slots through which cable ties may extend in order to aid in securing the cable.
In an alternative embodiment, the cable fastener of Cordes, et al. includes interlocking pins having locking heads that are used to hold the mounting members together. The members may be rotated relative to each other between two endpoints of an arcuate slot.
In both embodiments of Cordes, et al., since the cable mounting surface is in line with the units of the devices center of rotation, the device has only limited ability to accommodate cables running over the devices center of rotation. However, if the wire or cable runs adjacent to the center line of rotation, the device cannot be used to properly support the cable. Each end of the slot includes an interlocking section in which the pins will snap into upon rotation of the mounting members relative to each other.
In addition, the spacer mount of the first embodiment of Cordes, et al. does not provide rotational support for the cable since the mounting sections are freely rotatable relative to each other. While the second embodiment of Cordes, et al., does provide for the mounting parts to be locked relative to each other, the locking feature only occurs at the endpoints of the slot. Therefore, the cable must be correctly aligned with the saddle in either one of the two end positions so that the spacer mount may be properly secure the cable.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a cable fastener that may be securely fastened to a structural member and that can accommodate a variety of cable locations and have the ability to secure the cable in both a rotational and translational manner in a particular location.